The invention relates to an absorbent article such as a sanitary napkin, an incontinence guard, a diaper, or a panty-liner, which article has a substantially elongated shape with a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction and exhibits two side edges, a front edge and a rear edge, a front portion and a rear portion, and a central portion situated between the front portion and the rear portion, which article further exhibits a liquid-pervious surface layer and a liquid-impervious surface layer and an absorbent body, and a hump extending in the longitudinal direction having two longitudinally extending sides, which article furthermore comprises elastic members.
Conventional absorbent articles of the type mentioned above usually have a flat shape. Since the female pubic region does not have a corresponding flat appearance, problems can occur when applying and wearing such articles. The contact of the article against the body is not optimum, and when a gap develops there is a great risk of leakage. In order to solve this problem, it has been proposed to make the absorbent articles cup-shaped rather than flat. This shape may provide a better fit to the contours of the body. The cup shape is produced, for example, by arranging an elastic member in the longitudinal edges of the article, or the article is moulded in a cup shape in a more or less stiff material.
A problem with articles of the above-mentioned type is that they do not adapt to the anatomy of the user particularly well, but simply have a general cup-shaped appearance. An article shaped in this way does not provide a good fit against the body. In addition, a gap can easily occur between the user""s body and the user""s briefs since most women, during menstruation, wear briefs which are of poor quality from the outset or are of poor quality because they are old and worn. Unless either the absorbent article or the briefs are able to maintain a good contact with the user""s body, there is a great risk of menstruation fluid leaking past both the absorbent article and the briefs.
EP 985396-A2 discloses an absorbent article having two longitudinally extending elasticated means producing a cup-shaped product, by bending the whole absorbent article. The article further comprising a longitudinal upper absorbent core, placed in the central portion of the article, and a lower absorbent core, which is wider than the upper absorbent core. The two elasticated means runs through the entire article on either side of the upper absorbent core and longitudinally curves the absorbent article convexly downward. The product has a generally curved shape in the longitudinal direction and is stated to provide improved body contact in the central area of the product, thereby reducing the risk of side leakage, as well as a more rapid transport of menstrual fluid from the upper absorbent core to the lower absorbent core.
Even though the longitudinal upper absorbent core provides improved body contact with the body, a problem with a construction of the type mentioned is that the upper absorbent core becomes curved convexly downward in the central portion of the article, which may reduce the body contact in the genital area where the discharge of fluids occur. Another problem is that the upper absorbent core is separated from the lower absorbent core, which may result in that the upper absorbent core and/or the lower absorbent core slide too much in a lateral direction, thereby causing a bad fit and/or inadequate absorbent behaviour.
It is also known absorbent articles comprising a hump being part of the absorbent core as a separate component of the core. The hump may be made from a separate material with special features, placed in or on the absorbent core, or the absorbent core may be manufactured with an additional amount of material, thereby forming the hump as a part of the absorbent core.
A problem with this construction is that the absorbent core is hard to preserve in a desired shape, which means that the hump needs to be manufactured in a special way in order to assume a correct form during use. For instance, if the hump is too soft, it deforms and may flatten out, thereby loosing its intended function, and if the hump is too hard the sanitary napkin may be uncomfortable.
It is also known from WO 99/25282 an absorbent article where an elastic member is arranged in the article and gives the article a cup-shaped part at one end portion and a ridge-like elevation at the other end portion. The elastic member may be arranged in a loop in the front portion, which has a cup-shaped part, and where the elastic member in a loop contributes to giving the front portion its cup shape. The elastic member may also be arranged as a continuous thread or band running through the entire article, and in order to further improve the anatomical fit against the user""s body for an article with a ridge-like elevation which extends across both the central portion of the article and across the rear portion thereof, the ridge-like elevation in the end portion has a steeper inclination towards the centre line of the article than does the ridge-like elevation in the central portion, as seen from a long side of the article. The cup shape of the front portion will surround the mons pubis during use, and the ridge-like elevation of the rear portion will fit in the cleft between the user""s buttocks.
Even though the ridge-like elevation which extends across both the central portion of the article and across the rear portion thereof provides improved body contact in the central portion and the rear portion of the article, a problem with a construction of the type mentioned is that the elastic member bends the entire absorbent body. If the absorbent body is too soft, the elastic member bends the article too much, which may result in a bad fit, and if the absorbent body is too stiff the central portion may become bulky and uncomfortable for the user. A bulky or wrinkled ridge-like elevation may not be high enough and/or thin enough to provide sufficient protection for leakage of body fluids between the buttocks of the user when the user is lying down on his back. Another problem is that the ridge-like elevation consists of the thick and relatively stiff absorbent body, which give the ridge-like elevation a triangular shape, which makes the ridge-like elevation relatively wide and thereby hard to fit between the buttocks of a user.
Whilst previously known absorbent articles provide relatively good leakage protection and relatively good fit, a need still exists for an absorbent article which further increases the comfort by being small and flexible, and also further reduces the risk of leakage of body fluids by improved contact between the article and the body of the user, especially in the genital area, i.e. an article that has an anatomically correct shape in the wetting area, and that the article still is easy and cheap to manufacture. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article that meets these requirements.
The object of the invention is to remedy the above mentioned problems and to make available an absorbent article which provides a good fit against the user""s body and has an anatomically correct shape in the wetting area, and which article is comfortable to use and that reduces the leakage of body fluids.
The absorbent article may be a sanitary napkin, an incontinence guard, a diaper, or a panty-liner, which article has a substantially elongated shape with a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction and exhibits two side edges, a front edge and a rear edge. The absorbent article also has a front portion and a rear portion, and a central portion situated between the front portion and the rear portion. The article furthermore exhibits a liquid-pervious cover layer and a liquid-impervious cover layer and an absorbent body, and a hump extending in the longitudinal direction having two longitudinally extending sides. The absorbent article also comprises elastic members.
The invention is characterized in that the hump comprises a formation element extending in the longitudinal direction and having two longitudinally extending sides, and that the elastic members are arranged along either longitudinally extending side of the formation element, wherein the formation element and the elastic members cooperate in shaping the hump. The formation element is advantageously placed between the liquid-impervious cover layer and the absorbent body and the elastic members that run on either side of the formation element, exert a lateral force on the formation element, thereby curving the formation element convexly upward, which elevates the above lying layers into the shape of the longitudinal hump in the central portion of the article.
In one embodiment of the invention the rear portion of the absorbent body comprises a layer that is split in a first leg and a second leg with a gap between the legs where an angle xcex1 is defined between the first leg and the second leg, and that the elastic member also is placed between the first leg and the second leg extending essentially in the longitudinal direction. The elastic members that run in the rear portion bend the rear portion in a somewhat parabolic shape, deforming parts of the absorbent article that lies between the first leg and, thereby forming a ridge-like elevation between the first leg and the second leg.
Further descriptions of the invention will be presented in the subsequent text.